Finding a business especially for you either as a standalone or a bolt on to an existing business

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A targeted acquisition makes perfect sense from a buyer's point of view whether it is for a standalone business or a bolt on to an existing operation. It can result in a substantial reduction in the price paid for the target as you only pay a small finder’s fee rather than a commission of 5-10%. The savings can often be hundreds of thousands of pounds depending upon the value of the target. When a business broker sells a business, they get paid a commission and many companies also charge an upfront fee, although we do not. Based on looking for a company for you for £1,000,000, a broker would likely charge £50-100,000 as a broker fee which obviously pushes up the price that a seller is looking to get.South East Business Brokers can help you with this.

 

As a result of getting paid a commission, it's in our interest as brokers to try to get as much as we can for the business and the seller, which means that you as the buyer end up paying more.

 

An example of this is  South East Business Brokers sold a business for £1.55 Million. The owner only wanted £1.25 Million, so we were able to get £300,000 more for the business than the seller actually wanted. Furthermore, the owner of this business had no plans to sell until we contacted him, so it wasn't actually on the market. The commissions on that sale were substantial.

 

Had South East Business Brokers have been looking for that business for you, it took us five days to find that business. We charge £500 +VAT per day or per eight hours for our services, payable in five-day blocks in advance, so it would have cost you £2,500 +VAT for our marketing services. There is also a success fee, which is only payable at completion, of 2% of the total paid for the business.

 

In addition to that, once we've found a suitable business, we can create a Confidential Business Profile on the business, which is essentially a report including financials and an Opinion of Most Probable Selling Price, but only if you wish. This cost an additional £3,000 +VAT. Had we have been producing that report for you based on this business, it would have shown that the business was worth a minimum of £1.5 Million based on five times EBITDA for the sector the business was in, and yet you could have acquired it for only £1.25 Million.

 

In this example , the client i.e. yourselves would have obtained the business for £1.25 Million, saving yourselves at least £250,000 for an outlay of only £30,500+VAT i.e. 5 days consultancy at £500 per day as well as £3,000 for the report as well as a success fee payable upon completion of £25,000.If the report shows that the business is not worth as much as the seller thinks, then it can be shown to them to suggest that his asking price is unrealistic. If on the other hand, it shows it is actually worth more, then it shows you that the business is worth the asking price. Needless to say, the seller doesn't get to see the report unless you want him to.

 

During the course of five days consultancy, we would anticipate examining up to 300 companies that potentially fit your criteria provided these are not too restrictive, looking at their websites and basic companies house financials if they're limited companies.

Drilling down further, we are likely to narrow this down to between 30-40 companies that we believe could be of interest to you. We will then send you a list of these companies we are looking to contact for your consideration and approval. You can also add in any businesses you would like us to contact to see if they are potentially interested in selling.

 

We may get no responses at all, but from past experience, on average we get at least four communications. The best we have had is seven.  Not all of these come in immediately, either. Some enquiries come in after a couple of weeks, or even longer. Often the success rate of the response is down to the circumstances of the seller, such as timing, age, partners looking to go their own separate ways, divorce, etc, but not always. The youngest director's company we have sold was for someone who was only 36 who had been in the company for 20 years as man and boy and wanted a change of direction, so it's not always older people who are looking to sell.

 

If this should be of interest, then please let us know, and we can allocate a block of five days or more equivalent to 40 hours to working on your behalf. We just need a list of your criteria to start. We will do the rest.

 

Our approach is different, and we believe unique in the UK. It also stands to save you a substantial amount compared to buying a company that's already "on market".

South East Business Brokers are based in Dorset . We are particulalry keen to find businesses in the Beaminster,Blandford Forum,Bournemouth,Bridport,Cerne Abbas,Dorchester,Ferndown,Gillingham,Lyme Regis,Poole, Shaftesbury Sherborne, Swanage,Stalbridge, Hamstone, Sturminster Newton,Swanage,Verwood,  Wareham,Weymouth, and Wimborne Minster areas. We also cover the Greater London area as well as the counties of Dorset,Wiltshire,Devon,Cornwall, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex Hertfordshire Kent, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex as well as the M25 corridor. We are happy to give advice and to sell businesses throughout the UK.

 

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South East Business Brokers  cover the Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham,Haringey,Harrow,Havering,Hillingdon,Hounslow,Islington,Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, & Wandsworth. We also deal with the cities and towns surrounding Guildford, Hounslow, Leatherhead, and Watford.

We are particularly keen to sell businesses and find buyers in and around the towns of Brentford, Cobham Dorking, Esher, Epsom, Hounslow , Leatherhead, Mitcham, Sheherds Bush, Southall, Staines, Surbiton, Sutton, Tolworth, Twickenham, Uxbridge, West Drayton, Weybridge, Wimbledon Woking, Worcester Park, Arundel, Lewes, Brighton and Hove, Bognor Regis, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings, Little Hampton, Rye, Bexhill, Newhaven, Chichester, Hayling Island, Portsmouth, Fareham, Havant, Crawley, Horsham and surrounding areas.

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In Summary

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If you're thinking of buying a business, let us know what you're interested in and we can help you to find it via our targeted acquisition program.

This means that any potential seller will not know who you are until such time as we choose to reveal it to them and we are genuinely satisfied they are interested in selling their business rather than just fishing to see what they can get for it.

This is of immense benefit to companies that are looking to acquire but are loathe to broadcast the fact that they are looking to expand, via merger, acquisition or diversification.

We deal with all sectors and of all sizes. Our current portfolio of businesses range in value from £55,000 up to £10,000,000. Whether buying or selling a business, it is important to make sure you engage with the right professionals.

South East Business Brokers are able to put you in touch with solicitors, for example, we've worked with on helping people to buy businesses who specialise in this field who can help you with regards to assigning an existing lease or drawing up a new lease if this is required.